Coors Field

Rockies fans will tell you to never question home run averages at Coors Field, but many sports analysts will tell you that there’s a reason that Coors Field is considered one of the most home-run friendly ballparks in the league. With a height of over 5,200 feet above sea level, Coors Field is the highest park in the majors, with the next closest park, Chase Field, measuring at 1,100 feet. The ballpark is tall enough that the 20th row in the upper deck has purple seats to mark the one-mile elevation mark. This height presented an interesting design problem as it meant that there was lower air density resulting in balls flying farther than in similar parks. The designers tried to compensate by extending the outfield fences further from home plate than other parks making Coors Field the largest outfield in Major League Baseball to date. But despite this precaution, Coors Field still leads in home runs, doubles, and triples.

This earned the stadium the nicknames of Coors Canaveral (referring to NASA’s Cape Canaveral) or Williamssport (referring to the Little League World Series site). But later scientific research led to the discovery that it wasn’t thin air that contributed largely to home run distance, instead, it was dry air. As dryer balls were more elastic which made it easier to send them flying. So Coors Field installed a humidor in the rooms where the baseballs were stored which led to home run averages decreasing to averages that were closer to other parks.

Elevation still plays a factor in batting distances, which still leaves Coors Field as one of the most hitter-friendly ballparks in today’s Major Leagues. Whether this pans out in 2020 has left to be seen, but it will be exciting to see if the Rockies have higher home run averages at home or in other ballparks.